WIP Wednesday 15
Dec. 21st, 2022 06:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
between_time_and_42So I failed to announce this over here, but... I finished editing Part 1 of SF: ALS, and I posted it on AO3. I'm not sharing the link until the 25th (as a Christmas present), but I did want to share a little bit of it here as a sneak preview!
Context: Pink has just seen Ziggy perform live for the first time, and he met him at the local pub afterwards. They start to pick each other's brains, but the conversation is soon interrupted when...
“Ziggy!!” The exclamation, shrill with glee, startled Pink out of the conversation. Across the table, Ziggy seemed equally jarred, his eyes wide, before visibly relaxing as the source of the exclamation came dashing up. Two girls appeared at the end of the booth, both wearing short skirts and flowers in their hair and natural blushes on their faces. One of them clutched a record to her chest. Though only the back cover was visible, Pink glimpsed the song titles– “Space Oddity,” “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed”– and realized that it was Ziggy’s first album. Both of the newcomers looked to be somewhere around the age of seventeen.
“Hello!” Ziggy said, breaking into his old standby– a smile of detached curiosity. Right before Pink’s eyes, he had become the showman who had held his audience in the palm of his hand at the Friars Club. “What can I do for you?”
Simply hearing Ziggy’s voice seemed to petrify the girls. They both hemmed and hawed for a moment, before the one who wasn’t holding the record blurted, “We caught the show tonight, and we think you’re brilliant! Just brilliant!”
“Thank you very much!” Ziggy held out his hand. “I remember you. Amber, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” Amber exclaimed, as if she were confirming to a contestant on a game show that they’d just won a major award. “That’s me, and– this is my mate Celia!” She took Ziggy’s hand and heartily shook it, while Celia gave a little wave, her mouth frozen in the rictus of a grin while her eyes bulged.
“Hello, Celia.” Patiently Ziggy slipped his hand out of Amber’s grasp and offered it to Celia. Celia proceeded to shake his hand as vigorously as Amber had shaken it, visibly trembling. Pink waited for one of them to notice him, but both seemed completely taken with Ziggy.
“I saw you two bouncing around in the front row tonight,” Ziggy declared. He lay his elbows flat across the table and tapped his cigarette’s ash onto the unrolled napkin before him. “I couldn’t work out how you kept on going! Have you got springs on your feet?”
Celia giggled a bit too loudly, while Amber shook her head. “No, no! We, uh…” She glanced at Celia. “We’ve both got copies of your record, and… Celia was wondering if you’d like to sign hers?”
“I would be happy to.” Ziggy beamed, glancing from face to face. “Have you got a pen?”
“Yes, I…” Hurriedly Celia fumbled through her pockets, finally withdrawing the pen– only to immediately drop it. A red flush spread across her cheeks as it rolled under the table. “Oh, no!” She started to bend down, but Pink was faster, crawling under the table and grabbing the pen. Returning to his seat, he held the pen out to Celia. “Here you go.”
“Ta,” Celia said, hardly bothering to give Pink a glance before handing her record over to Ziggy.A frown tugged at Pink's lips. Didn’t she recognize me? He knew that Pink Floyd wasn't in vogue at the moment, according to everything that Cyrus had told him, and it wasn't as if he wanted to be recognized, but... had things really gone that far downhill? Celia’s ignoring of Pink seemed to surprise Ziggy too, because he shot Pink a bewildered glance, before melting back into the warm persona of a royal greeting his subjects. He took the pen and quickly scrawled across his own face on the cover. “Here you go, love. Thank you for coming to the show, it means a lot.”
“Thank you!” Celia gasped as she took her record back. Amber seemed to be trying to keep a straight face, but her composure was steadily slipping.
“We won’t bother you anymore,” she said. “But we loved the show, and we’re so looking forward to the new record!”
“That’s very kind of you to say.” From the sound of Ziggy’s voice, Pink could discern the depths of his sincerity. “Thank you very much. You’re going to love the next one, I guarantee it.”
“Anything you do, we’ll love!” Celia enthused, just as Amber began to herd her away.
“That’s very sweet!” Ziggy waved. “Bye-bye now.” He watched the girls depart, while Pink leaned his elbows on the table and removed his cigarette from his mouth. An instant replay of the interaction rolled through his head. He wasn’t sure what to focus on– the girls’ enthusiasm, Ziggy’s ease with which he had received it, or the cold shoulder that the girls had given him.
Context: Pink has just seen Ziggy perform live for the first time, and he met him at the local pub afterwards. They start to pick each other's brains, but the conversation is soon interrupted when...
“Ziggy!!” The exclamation, shrill with glee, startled Pink out of the conversation. Across the table, Ziggy seemed equally jarred, his eyes wide, before visibly relaxing as the source of the exclamation came dashing up. Two girls appeared at the end of the booth, both wearing short skirts and flowers in their hair and natural blushes on their faces. One of them clutched a record to her chest. Though only the back cover was visible, Pink glimpsed the song titles– “Space Oddity,” “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed”– and realized that it was Ziggy’s first album. Both of the newcomers looked to be somewhere around the age of seventeen.
“Hello!” Ziggy said, breaking into his old standby– a smile of detached curiosity. Right before Pink’s eyes, he had become the showman who had held his audience in the palm of his hand at the Friars Club. “What can I do for you?”
Simply hearing Ziggy’s voice seemed to petrify the girls. They both hemmed and hawed for a moment, before the one who wasn’t holding the record blurted, “We caught the show tonight, and we think you’re brilliant! Just brilliant!”
“Thank you very much!” Ziggy held out his hand. “I remember you. Amber, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” Amber exclaimed, as if she were confirming to a contestant on a game show that they’d just won a major award. “That’s me, and– this is my mate Celia!” She took Ziggy’s hand and heartily shook it, while Celia gave a little wave, her mouth frozen in the rictus of a grin while her eyes bulged.
“Hello, Celia.” Patiently Ziggy slipped his hand out of Amber’s grasp and offered it to Celia. Celia proceeded to shake his hand as vigorously as Amber had shaken it, visibly trembling. Pink waited for one of them to notice him, but both seemed completely taken with Ziggy.
“I saw you two bouncing around in the front row tonight,” Ziggy declared. He lay his elbows flat across the table and tapped his cigarette’s ash onto the unrolled napkin before him. “I couldn’t work out how you kept on going! Have you got springs on your feet?”
Celia giggled a bit too loudly, while Amber shook her head. “No, no! We, uh…” She glanced at Celia. “We’ve both got copies of your record, and… Celia was wondering if you’d like to sign hers?”
“I would be happy to.” Ziggy beamed, glancing from face to face. “Have you got a pen?”
“Yes, I…” Hurriedly Celia fumbled through her pockets, finally withdrawing the pen– only to immediately drop it. A red flush spread across her cheeks as it rolled under the table. “Oh, no!” She started to bend down, but Pink was faster, crawling under the table and grabbing the pen. Returning to his seat, he held the pen out to Celia. “Here you go.”
“Ta,” Celia said, hardly bothering to give Pink a glance before handing her record over to Ziggy.A frown tugged at Pink's lips. Didn’t she recognize me? He knew that Pink Floyd wasn't in vogue at the moment, according to everything that Cyrus had told him, and it wasn't as if he wanted to be recognized, but... had things really gone that far downhill? Celia’s ignoring of Pink seemed to surprise Ziggy too, because he shot Pink a bewildered glance, before melting back into the warm persona of a royal greeting his subjects. He took the pen and quickly scrawled across his own face on the cover. “Here you go, love. Thank you for coming to the show, it means a lot.”
“Thank you!” Celia gasped as she took her record back. Amber seemed to be trying to keep a straight face, but her composure was steadily slipping.
“We won’t bother you anymore,” she said. “But we loved the show, and we’re so looking forward to the new record!”
“That’s very kind of you to say.” From the sound of Ziggy’s voice, Pink could discern the depths of his sincerity. “Thank you very much. You’re going to love the next one, I guarantee it.”
“Anything you do, we’ll love!” Celia enthused, just as Amber began to herd her away.
“That’s very sweet!” Ziggy waved. “Bye-bye now.” He watched the girls depart, while Pink leaned his elbows on the table and removed his cigarette from his mouth. An instant replay of the interaction rolled through his head. He wasn’t sure what to focus on– the girls’ enthusiasm, Ziggy’s ease with which he had received it, or the cold shoulder that the girls had given him.
